The Discovery Review

Released: Mar 22, 2011Genre: Progressive DeathcoreLabel: SumerianNumber Of Tracks: 15
All 15 songs contain the best aspects of what BOO had on previous albums, plus the song structure is much improved.

The Discovery
Reviewed by:
scarter1192, on april 19, 2011 1 of 5 people found this review helpful

Sound: When BOO went from The New Reign to A Higher Place, the sound changed so much. TNR was extremely short with songs consisting of many fast tech breakdowns, short little synth melodies, and fast technical drums beats. When A Higher Place was released, BOO changed their sound from putting as many breakdowns as possible in one song to focusing on atmospheric guitar/synth melodies, crushing vocals, and more driving drum beats. One problem with A Higher Place is the songs were organized awfully, with little to no groovy/bouncy breakdowns. On The Discovery, everything comes together. All 15 songs contain the best aspects of what BOO had on previous albums, plus the song structure is much improved. The addition of Jason Richardson on lead guitar cannot be ignored. His talent is obvious in many of the songs, including the solos on songs like "Follow The Signs", "Dissimulation", and "Behold", a sound that BOO had not had on previous albums. While most songs on previous albums were between 2 and 3 minutes long, many of the songs on The Discovery are over 3 and 4 minutes, with "Behold" nearly clocking in at 6 minutes. Joe's keys on this album are also something that has improved. While on TNR and AHP they may have seemed a little out of place at times, The Discovery seems to make good use of his talents and place them in parts where they improve the song, rather than bring it down. The placement of the interludes is something I also find very refreshing. They almost give you a breather before the other heavy songs ;) // 10

Lyrics: While I do not focus much on the lyrics in the songs, from what I have heard they are really cool. For instance, on "Devastate", Ronnie screams "SYSTEM FAILURE!" right before a breakdown which, to me, sounds insane. I cannot give a real honest opinion on lyrics, mainly because I am a guitar player and that is something I have never really payed much attention to :). One thing I can comment on is the sound of Ronnie and Joe's screams. Throughout the album Ronnie has crushing screams that compliment the instruments very well. Joe's back up yells also provide a really cool contrast to Ronnie's low growls and high screams. The only complaint on vocals I have is that occasionally the screams are doubled with a low growl and high scream over each other and it can sound a little corny. Most of the time it sounds cool though. // 7

Overall Impression: While no, I am not going to worship this as "zomg Boo Is The Most Technic@l Band Evr This Albm Is Redefininggg The Genre!", I do feel this is one of, if not the best deathcore releases in the past few years. The only albums in the sumerian-core era that are on this level are Periphery's self-titled and Veil Of Maya's "id". Don't get me wrong, this album still consists of many many breakdowns, fast sweeping, and stereotypical -core vocals, so if you do not like Sumerian style bands, you probably will not like this album. But I HIGHLY recommend giving it a thorough listen before judging.
Best songs: Follow The Signs, Singularity, Recreate, Regenerate, and Behold. (Although there is not one bad song)
If this album was stolen I would purchase it again immediately without hesitation. // 9

The Discovery
Reviewed by:
ArchangelAzrael, on may 16, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Sound: If your looking for an album that has blast beat drumming, constant heavy breakdowns and insane sweeps go listen to every other death metal band but if you want a fresh face of metal this is the album for you. In BOO's past album, "A Higher Place", they began to focus on their beautiful guitar and synth melodies. They took that and added some bouncy breakdowns, kicked it up a notch and got some the most original compositions ever seen in metal. Songs such as "Ascension" and "Automatic Motion" a prime examples of that. Its not to say they got rid of the insane technical parts that are key to most all of metal, they still have all of that, maybe even more with the addition of their new rhythm guitarist Jason R. Richardson. Some of their best guitar solos are in this album such as in the songs "Dissimulate" and "Behold". Overall this one of the best, if not the best, album I've heard in a long time and I can't stop listening to it. // 10

Lyrics: BOO has always had some deep lyrics and very good vocalists and "The Discovery" is no exception. I would encourage you to look at their lyrics they are poetic in every sense of the word. Its awesome to see a band that adds a psychological aspect to their songs. Both their vocalists are very talented and are even more so together. They use two different techniques, one using death growls and the other screams, which creates a cool contrast which gives a good sense of originality. I'm not a vocalist kinda guy but I really like the way they do theirs. // 9

Overall Impression: This album is a good example of the sound that is pretty much imprinted on BOO and couldn't be replicated by anyone, effectively that is. The main reason this album is so impressive is because I've listened to a lot of metal, A LOT, so to see new bands like this that are still reinventing the genre is awesome. All of the songs on this album can be listened to dozens of times over a you will still head-bang to their breakdown and savor their beautiful melodies. I HIGHLY encourage you to buy this album. // 10

The Discovery
Reviewed by:
BigVaden, on august 11, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Sound: BOO's progression over the course of the last several years has been something that I've enjoyed keeping an eye on since their first effort, "the New Reign". Out of the gate they had crushing breakdowns and insanely technical arrangements, especially in the drum and lead guitar departments, but still sounded like a young band that hadn't quite found themselves yet. With their second album, "A Higher Place", they managed to somewhat improve the structures of the individual songs while maintaining their signature brutality and seat-of-the-pants time signatures, but at the end of the day nothing quite stood out to me the way an album of this genre should.
Now, with "The Discovery", they've taken everything they have become known for and multiplied it times ten. The first thing that immediately stood out to me was Lee McKinney's sharp, high-flying lead guitar work. He's all over the place on this album, but he really shows his grit in "Recreate" and "XIV"/"Behold" (2 songs that run together as one composition) - I defy you to listen to the last 1:25 of "Behold" and not have a full-on metalgasm. Backing him up is new addition Jason Richardson who provides spot-on rhythm guitar, which, as anybody who has heard BOO before will know, is saying quite a bit. Add in Cameron Losch's usual dose of devastating percussion and Joe Buras' interweaving of haunting synths and keys and you have one of the better prog death metal albums of the last several years.
However, that being said I found myself annoyed by the fact that the more catchy and melodic parts were all-to-short. Right about the time you become captivated by a wicked little riff or breakdown in a song, it changes up again and returns to being as heavy/brutal/fast/technical as possible. I understand this is a good thing to some and is in fact a staple of the genre, but I still find myself skipping to what I consider "the really cool part" in a lot of the songs. // 9

Lyrics: First off, let's face it, nobody listens to deathcore for the inspiring lyrics. It's a musician's genre. We (or at least I) listen to this type of music for it's sheer brutality and/or it's unparalleled level of musicianship and technicality. A good portion of the lyrics are interchangeable or altogether negligible, which is fine because the majority of us don't really pay much attention to them, anyway. The sonic impact that the vocals can have, however, is a totally different story. Ronnie Canizar's gravelly roars and rumbles are synced perfectly with Buras' backup screams and howls to create a pretty Earth-shattering assault of vocal textures and harmonies. If the goal here was brutality, they came through with flying colors. That said, nothing about the vocals really stands out when compared to other bands of the genre. They play their part well, but it's not a lead role, so to speak. // 8

Overall Impression: Born Of Osiris has gained notoriety in the metal scene at an alarming rate over the last few years, and this album is a perfect example of why. It coasts on that fine line between absolute brutality and utter chaos, interspersed with melodies and note progressions that are nothing short of beautiful. Overall it is well worth purchasing, specifically for the songs "Recreate", "Two Worlds Of Design" and "Behold". It has become a mainstay on my playlists and I'd recommend it to any fan of the genre in a heartbeat. // 9

ProgJazzMath wrote:
EpiExplorer wrote:
This is like that Becoming the Archetype album a few weeks ago: Fairly dull and too slow.
Lost Soul do it better.
Too slow? You didn't even listen to it obviously.

I mean, i don't get what you could say is bad and dull about this band or even slow?

Music has to be blistering fast and layered with blast beats to be worthy of listening to? This album blew me away, and I often find that the sections of the album that are slow are the better moments on the album. DUNKADUNKADUNKADUNKA blast beat music is almost as dull as it gets, and I'm very very please the BOO has gotten away from cheesy deathcore and moved into a more progressive artistic variation of metal.

FortheLifeless wrote:
Music has to be blistering fast and layered with blast beats to be worthy of listening to?

If were talking abut death metal and its benign twin deathcore then yes,absolutely yes.Anyway the first 15 seconds of "Devastate" is utter brutality and the following riff is surprisingly good and it has blast beats.

lol when did music become a competition to who's faster?? let's surpass 320 bpm and lose any cromatic difference between notes then!
the discovery is a great albumm, but it's a matter of taste, if u don't like it don't say it's not faster or brutal enough to be death metal cause it's the dumbest shit i've heard so far.

Anyone saying speed is the core essence of what makes something sound "Metal" might as well stay quiet. Metal for me means: diversity and musicianship amidst chaos. Jazz is sometimes metal as hell...
This album is amazing and although I am a huge Born of Osiris fan, I listen to stuff like Cynic and Meshuggah, so don't think I don't know any good music.

MatasTeen wrote:
Anyone saying speed is the core essence of what makes something sound "Metal" might as well stay quiet.

If this refers to me,then fail,because I specifically said Death Metal.And death metal,thrash and black metal bands as well primarily focus on fast sections.And if were talking abut brutal/tech death and deathcore then they are even more focused on ultra high bpm ranges and odd time signatures.

FortheLifeless wrote:
Music has to be blistering fast and layered with blast beats to be worthy of listening to? This album blew me away, and I often find that the sections of the album that are slow are the better moments on the album. DUNKADUNKADUNKADUNKA blast beat music is almost as dull as it gets, and I'm very very please the BOO has gotten away from cheesy deathcore and moved into a more progressive artistic variation of metal.

+10000
I'm getting sick of the same blast beat-sweep pick-scream layout of so many new bands/songs. I'll definitely have to give this album a look.

BOO differs from the rest of the generi-core bands by a long shot. Yes they do the constant tech riffs and lots of breakdowns, but they incorporate a lot more in their music. Especially the solos in the new album. They kick ass.

Megalomaniac46 wrote:
The only albums in the sumerian-core era that are on this level are Periphery's self-titled and Veil Of Maya's "id".
You forgot Rareform!!
Dammit!! I have absolutely no idea how I forgot about ATB. They are on that level. Those 8 string guitars just crush.
But yeah, this album owns. Absolutely phenomenal guitar work.

krvolok wrote:
Ibeanez wrote:
I remember when death metal was considered the slower, heavier counterpart to thrash metal. Before blastbeats even showed up.
When was that in,64.AD? Blast beats have been present in death metal since 1982.

this album is really incredible, i've never heard such a spacy/ethereal atmosphere oozing from music. this is an exceptional release and will definitely become a cult classic in the next years ... it just gets better every time you listen to it !!

krvolok wrote:
MatasTeen wrote:
Anyone saying speed is the core essence of what makes something sound "Metal" might as well stay quiet.
If this refers to me,then fail,because I specifically said Death Metal.And death metal,thrash and black metal bands as well primarily focus on fast sections.And if were talking abut brutal/tech death and deathcore then they are even more focused on ultra high bpm ranges and odd time signatures.

dude no one ever said this was ****ing death metal! You're arguing about the fact that it was called "brutal"? Who the **** cares? Brutal is subjective to a certain degree and does not always fast. You want real tech death then listen to Necrophagist or Decapitated(two amazingly good bands). This is a review for a deathcore band. Some people think deathcore is brutal (not saying me), but like I said, your perception of brutal is different than others. Get your head out of your ass and stop acting like a damn 2 year old and arguing for the sake arguing